San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-07-08
X IN 6
Solomon S Mines.
BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.

goodness! think it's passage. Come on
down"
Good descended next and followed last
and on reaching the bottom lit one of the
two Temaing matches. BY its light we
could just see that We were standing in a
narrow tunnel, which ran right and left at
right angles To the staircase we had descend.
ed. Before we could make out any more,
the match burned my fingers and went out.
Then arose the delicate question of which
way to turn. OF course il was impossible
to know what the tunnel was or where
Ii ran 10, and yet to turn one way might
lead us to safety, and the other to destruc.
ton. We were utterly perm rXed, till sud
denly it struck Good that wIien had lit the
match the draught Of the passage blew the
flame to the left.
let us go against the draught," he said,
''air draws inward, not outward"
We took this suggestion, and feeling alone
the wall with the hand, whilst try Ing ting
ground before us at every step, we departed
from that accused Observation-Disclosures on our
terrible quest. Ii ever It should be entered
again by living man, which do not think it
will be, he Will lind token of our presence
in the open chests of Jewels, the empty
lamp, and tie white bones OF poor FOulata.
When we had CROPPED our way for about a
quarter of an hour along the passage, il
suddenly took sharp turn, or else wac
bisected by another which we followed, only
in course of time TO be led into a third. And
so il went on for some hours. We seemed
to be in a stone labyrinth which led no.
where. What all these passages are, OF
course, L cannot say, but We thought that
they must bc the ancient wOrnIn-S OF a
mine, of which the various shafts Travelled
hither ana thither as the ore led them. This
is the only way IN which We could account
for such multitude of passages.
At length we halted, thoroughly worn out
with fatigue and with that hope deferred
which maketh the heart sick, and ate up our
poor remaining piece of blltOng, and drank
our last sup OF water, for cur thrUalS were
like lme-kilnS 1t seemed to us Inat we had
escaped death i'll the darkness OF the cham
Der only 10 meet him Ia the darkness OF the
tunnels.
As we stood, once more utterly depressed,
i thought | caught sound, to which | called
the attention of the others. 1t was very
faint and far off, but it was Il sound. IA FAINT,
murnuring sound, Tor the others heard II
too, ANA no words can describe the blessed
ness Of ii after all those hours OF utter, aw-
ful stiffness.
by Heaven! It's running water" said
Good. Come on"
OF we started again in the direction from
which the faint murmur seemed to come,
cropping our way as before along the rocky
walls. AS we went it got more and more
audible, till at last IL seemed quite loud in
the quiet. On, yet on; now We could dis
tinctly make out the Ummslakaule swirl of
rushing water And Yet now cOu.d there be
running water III tile DuNClS ., The earth?
Now we were quite near To IT, and Good,
who was leading, swJre that H. could smell
it
go gently Good" said Sir Henry. I'VE
must be close" Splash and cry from
Good.
He had fallen in.
Good! Good! where are your we shout
ed, in terrified distress. 70 our intense re-
lief an answer came back in Il ChOlIy voice.
"'All right; I've got hold of a rock. Strike
a light to show me where you are"
Hastily lit the last remaining match. 1T
faint CLEAN discovered to lis q dark mass OF
water running at our feet. How wide it was
We could not see, but there some way out
was the dark form of our companion hang.
ing on to projecting rock.
stand clear to catch me" sung out
Good. Il must swim for il"
Then we heard a splash, and a great
struggle. Another minute and he had grab
bet at and caught Sir HenTy's OutStrctChed
hand, and we pulled him up high and dry
into the tunnel.
MY word!' he said, between his gasps,
shat was touch and go. If | hadn't caught
that rock, and known how to swim, | should
have been DONE 1t runs like mill-race,
and | could feel no bottom"
1t was clear that this would not do; SO
aIJer Good had rested little, and we had
drank our fill from the water of the Subter.
ranean river, which was sweet and fresh,
and washed our faces, which sadly needed
il, as well as we could, we started from the
banks of this African Styx, and began to re.
trace our steps along the tunnel, Good drip
ping unpleaSanty in front of us. At length
we came to another tunnel leading to our
right;
Ty, YEARLY; "all roads are alike here; we
can only go on until we drop"
Slowly, for long, long while, we stumb-
led, utterly weary, along this new tunnel,
Sir Henry leading now.
Suddenly he stopped, and we bumped up
against him.
'Lookw he whispered, lis my brain go
ing or is that llght%
We stared with all our eyes, and there,
yes, there, far ahead of us, was a faint
glimmcrng spot, no larger than a cottage
windOW-pane. 1t was so faint that [ doubt
if any eyes, except those which, like ours.
had for days seen nothing but blackneSs,
could have perceived 1t at all.
With a sort of a gasp of hope, we pushed
on, in five minutes there was no longer any
doubt: it was patch of faint light. A min.
ute more and breath of real, live air was
tanning us. On we struggled. All at once
the tunnel narrowed. Sir Henry went on
MS knees. Smaller yet it grew, till it was
only the size of large fOX'S earth-it was
earth now, mind you; the rock had ceased.
A squeeze, struggle, and Sir Henry was
out, AMI 50 was Good, and so was |, and
there above us were the blessed stars, and in
our nOStrIS was the sweet air; then sudden.
ly something gave, and we were all rolling
over and over through grass and bushes, and
soft wet soil.
caught at something and stopped. Sit
ting upI hallOed Justify. An answering
shout came from just bc.bw, when Sir Hen.
rvs wild career had been stopped by some
level ground. scrambled to him, and found
INN unhurt though breatheSS Then we
ttlr (nnpI 4 littlp IF fpnnd
him. too, jammed in fOrked root He was
a good deal knocked about, but soon come
to.
We sat down together there on the grass,
and the reyulSiOn of feeling was so great
that | really think we cried for Joy. we had
escaped from that awful dungeon, that was
50 near to becoming our grave. Surely some
merctul power must have guided our foot.
steps to the jaCkal hole at the termination OF
the tunnel 0Or that is what it must have
beenl. And see, there on the mountains.
the dawn we had never thought to look up
on again was bluShng rosy red.
Presently the gray light stole down the
slopes and we saw that we were at the bot
tom, or, rather nearly at the bottom, of the
vast pit in front of the entrance to the cave
Now We could make out the dim forms Ol
the three cOiOSsi who sat upon its verge.
Doubtless those awful passages along which
we had wandered the llvclOng night had
originally been, in some way, connected
with the diamond mine. As for the subter.
r,nean river in the bowels of the mountains,
Heaven only knows what it was, or whence
il flows, or whittier 1t goes. | for one have
no anxiety TO trace ITS course.
Lighter it grew, and lighter yet. We
could sec each other now, and such specta'
Gle as we presented have never set eyes on
before or since. Gauut-Checked, hollow.
eyed wretches, smeared all over with dust
and mud, bruised, bleeding, the long fear Of
imminent death yet written on our cOunten
ance, we We're, indeed, a sIght to frighteD